Cream Of The Corn
by Wakkowarnerlover
Summary: Perry has a difficult time keeping his mind off of his deceased friend Terrence, especially as the anniversary of his death approaches. Perry is forced to try to think back further when he discovers his friend Sven may be hiding something about the arson of Terrence's old home. THIS STORY IS PART OF A SERIES AND WILL NOT MAKE SENSE WITHOUT READING THE PREVIOUS TALES.
1. Chapter 1

The birds were chirping as the sun rose steadily in the sky. A light breeze blew through the trees.

Sunlight began to spread out over Danville. People began to wake up. The morning sun stretched across the tri-state area and peeked in through the blinds of a window belonging to the bottom floor of a two-story house. It streamed in through the slits and gently warmed a little platypus, lying in a bed.

"NO." Perry shouted, slamming his pillow over his head. "TOO EARLY. GAAH. SUN. GO AWAY."

The sun did not go away.

After a few moments, Perry sat up and put his pillow aside. The television was on. A glass of water sat on the bedside table.

Perry felt a little dizzy. He lay back down and stared at the ceiling.

"Oh good, you're up."

Perry sat up again. "Prince. I'm starving."

"Really?" Prince asked. "That's good. Do you think you can eat?"  
Perry nodded.

"Cool. I'll make you some breakfast."

"I don't want breakfast. I want something really filling. Like pasta or potatoes."

Prince sat down next to him on the bed and put a hand on his forehead. "You're still a little warm. Lie down."

"I've been lying down for days. I'm sick of lying down. I'm so bored."

"You have the TV."

"The TV is boring. It insists on telling me about different shampoos and what episode of Pinhead Pierre is airing next week. I want to get up."

"You'll pass out if you get up. I'll make you some food." Prince got up and left the room. "Drink your water."

"I'M DIZZY FROM LYING DOWN." Perry shouted.

"Shut up."

Perry sighed and stared at the television.

The show currently playing was an old sitcom entitled Luke and Nommy the Naca. Perry had no idea what the heck it was supposed to be about.

Luke, a handsome young man, walked into his living room where a huge furry monster named Nommy the Naca was eating a piece of cheese strudel.

"By golly, Nommy, why are you eating cheese strudel?" Luke asked.

Nommy roared. The studio audience burst into laughter.

Prince came back into the room just as Nommy and Luke were beginning to sing a song about friendship. She set a tray down in front of Perry. "There ya go."

"Thank you." Perry said. He began to eat his spaghetti.

Prince gave the television an odd look. "Is this show supposed to be a satire or something? I don't get it- Woah, slow down. You're gonna choke."

"Hungry." Perry said.

"Chew. Don't just inhale it. I promise you it'll still be there, no matter how long you take."

"Can I get up after this?"

"You're still warm. You can get up when you're all better."

"I'm so sick of being sick. Please? I hate lying down. I'm too rested to sleep any more."

"Until your temperature is normal again, no."

"Gaaaahhhhhhhh bored." Perry slumped down against his breakfast tray.

"You were a lot easier to take care of before you got your strength back." Prince said.

Perry laughed a little. "Prince… I know I was a pain the past few days. Even though I was pretty much unconscious, I remember you staying up with me all night and getting me stuff and making sure my head stayed cool… so… thanks. I really appreciate it."

"You weren't a pain at all." Prince said. "I'm glad you're feeling better now. I was worried."

"So… can I get up?"

"No."

"Aggghhhhhhhh. So bored."

"Fine, I'll make a deal with you. I'll call the doctor and if he says it's okay for you to get up, you can get up. If not, you stay lying down until you're better and shut up with the complaining."

"Yay. Getting up."

Prince pulled out her cell phone and began to dial. "Never thought I'd hear you say that."

"Me neither. Tell the doctor that if he says I can get up, nothing will happen to his oven."

Prince slapped him on the arm.

"Ow."

"That didn't hurt. …Hello? Yes. This is Prince Curran. You remember Perry? The platypus you treated the other day for the flu?"

"And the flea and the fly and the flu flew flee…" Perry sang.

"Yes. Well, he's starting to go insane staying in bed. He ate today and he's acting like his old self again."

"…And the flea and the flee and the flu flew fly…"

"Is it okay for him to get out of bed yet? He's still a little warm, but his temperature went down dramatically the last time I checked. It's almost normal."

"…I don't know if flies flee…"

"Kay. Thanks." Prince hung up and glared at Perry. "Are you done yet?"

"But the flea and the flu fly fleed. Yep, I'm done. What did he say?"

"Seeing as you're still delusional from fever…"

"What did he say?"  
"You have to stay in bed for today. Tomorrow you can get up."

"NOOOOO." Perry said. "Can I at least go to the couch? It's dark in here. I want a change of scenery."

"Sure. I'll carry you."

"Darn. You're supposed to say 'yes, get up and walk there'. You foiled my escape plan."

* * *

"Did you miss me? ACK! Why am I all wet?"

Phineas and Ferb turned around. They were both wearing rain gear and holding umbrellas. It appeared to be raining in their room.

"Perry!" Phineas ran over to him and scooped him up in a hug. The umbrella went flying and whacked Ferb in the head. "Where were you? We missed you!"

Ferb fell unconscious to the floor.

"Sorry. I was sick."

"Aww. How sick?"

"The flu. No idea how I got it, but I had a full-blown case of it. Headache, nausea, sore throat, sore limbs, sore back, sore tail, watery eyes, coughing, sneezing, runny nose, rug art…"

"Rug art?"

Perry began to make a gagging noise.

"Oh, right." Phineas put him down on the ground. "That sounds awful."

"It was. Lucky I had Prince taking care of me. Got better pretty quick. …Is Ferb okay?"

"Huh?" Phineas turned around. "Oh, Ferb was probably just tired."

"At least I know YOU'LL get through situations unharmed." Perry muttered.

"What?"

"Oh, I was just saying… um… baked potatoes sound really good right now."

"They do, actually." Phineas said. "I'll ask mom to make them!"

"What's with the rain?"

Phineas clapped his hands, and the rain stopped. "Why stay dry indoors when you can be wet indoors?"

"…Can't argue with that logic."

Phineas ran downstairs. Ferb sat up a moment later, rubbing his head.

"You okay, Ferb?" Perry asked.

"Happens all the time." Ferb said.

* * *

"Good to have you back, Perry!" Peter the panda said, placing a card from his deck down onto the meeting table. "Just in time, too. Kyle and I are playing for five hundred dollars."

Kyle the kangaroo nodded. "I hope he wins. I don't have five hundred dollars."

"Wanna join?" Peter asked.

"Sorry. Using my money to apply for the promotion to Elite Agent." Perry pulled the application out of his pocket.

"Cool." Peter said. "A title."

"It's not just a title like paid intern." Perry said. "I actually get better pay, a free extra lair, bonuses at the end of every month, and free unrestricted access to all areas of the agency."

"But we're all allowed everywhere." Peter said.

"There's one place we're not allowed in." Perry said.

"Where are we not allowed?" Kyle asked, placing down a five of hearts.

"Who do you think you are?" Peter demanded. "Running around placing cards, flaunting your five of hearts, tearing my savings apart."

"The third broom closet down in the lowest basement." Perry shrugged. "I have no desire to go in there, but it's still cool to be allowed in there. …And… what the heck, Peter?"

"Cool." Kyle said. "What do you have to do besides apply and pay a ton of money? Or do you just get in?"

"The money you pay is to take the test to get in." Perry said. "It's one of those stupid tests that's like: 'Smile', in this sentence, most likely means: A, frown. B, stand on one foot. C, hit someone with a car. D, grin."

"Oh, those kinds of tests." Peter said. "Those are easy."

"Much easier than those 'orangutan is to cheesecake as bicycle is to blank' tests." Kyle said.

"Dude, you got that question once, too?" Peter asked, his eyes widening. "I put down soapdish."

"Well, I'd love to stay and see who's out five hundred dollars, but I gotta go. I have to send this in and then head to my mission. Doof's probably gonna be mad at me for being gone so long again."

"Let us know what the inside of the third broom closet looks like when you get a chance." Peter said.

"Heck, no. Who would want to go in there?"


	2. Chapter 2

"So then the guy said that popsicles weren't actually a food." Herman the hedgehog said.

"What?" Perry pulled a glazed doughnut out of the box sitting on the coffee table. "That's ridiculous. I practically lived off of those things when I had that really bad sore throat at age two."

"I know, right?" Herman said. "So then I punched him in the nose."

Perry bit into his doughnut. "I'm glad Dover the delivery dog finally got my order right. He usually brings me the doughnuts with the fruit stuff in the middle. Ack, I can't stand those. Or those doughnuts with the nuts on top. I prefer the dough part. I don't need the nut part. What's so hard about six glazed and six chocolate frosted?"

"Maybe he just doesn't believe you can really eat all of those." Herman said.

"Yeah, I think he just assumes you eat the healthier kind." Darren the duck said, filling up his coffee mug. "Doughnuts don't go straight to your belly like they do for most critters."

"I run 'em off." Perry said. "And you do realize the stuff inside those jelly doughnuts isn't pure fruit, right? It's gross rubbery fruit. I hate it. I'd hate fruit in doughnuts anyway, but when it's made of pure artificial cherry flavor extract… yech."

"Agent." Ernest the eagle said, entering the coffee room.

"Eagle." Perry responded, taking another bite of his doughnut.

Ernest glared at him. "Into my office."

"Othay." Perry followed Ernest out of the room and down the hall. He wasn't particularly interested in having a conversation with Ernest. A conversation with Ernest usually ended up as a roof-exploding argument.

They entered Ernest's office. Perry sat down in a chair in front of Ernest's desk.

"I've called you here to talk about your application for the promotion to Elite Agent." Ernest said sternly.

"Of course you have." Perry muttered.

"But first, wipe your chin off. You're covered in frosting."

Perry did so. He licked the glaze from his fingers.

"It seems that the more I reprimand you for your sloppiness, the sloppier you get." Ernest scowled.

"It's a vicious cycle, isn't it?" Perry remarked.

Ernest closed his eyes. "If you cooperate, we can have this done quickly and you can get out of here and go back to stuffing your face with fattening pastries."

"Ha! I've never heard you say something as cheery as the word 'pastries' before. You make it sound so deadly and evil. PASTRIES. The new action movie. Presented by Flittering Studios."

"Agent."

"Hey, when I'm an elite agent, will you start saying Elite Agent instead of Agent?"

"SILENCE." Ernest sat down at his desk and pulled out a file. "We are going to fill out your paperwork now." He produced a pen from the jar sitting on his desk. "Full name?"

"Paul Bunyan."

Ernest's head rose very slowly.

"I'm warning you, Agent."

Perry sighed. "Perry Bartholomew Flynn-Fletcher."

"Age?"

"As old as the Hills."

Ernest opened his beak angrily.

"No, seriously. You know the twin meerkat agents? Martha and Marley Hill? I'm the same age as they are. We have the same birthday."

"Gender?"

"If you don't know by now, Ernest, you really need to take a look in the platypus section in one of those mammal biology books."

"AGENT!" Ernest stood up.

"I just don't get why you're asking me all this. You know it already."

Ernest sat back down and handed the form to Perry. "As long as this third form is completely filled out and sent back to me by tomorrow, you will be permitted to take the test. You will, however, need to be cleared of your offenses first…"

"When have I ever offended anyone?"

Ernest reached into a filing cabinet and pulled out a piece of paper.

"Just one sheet." Perry shrugged. "That's good."

"Fighting with other agents… thirteen times, to be exact…"

Perry shrugged. "For the record, all thirteen of them started it."

"Starting a mini-revolution in the agency's bathroom by gathering a small band of followers, brandishing toilet plungers and creating barricades out of toilet paper rolls… the protest, as I recall, was known as 'Softer Toilet Paper for the People'."

"We are allowed to protest for our rights." Perry said.

"Fooling around with a former agent while on-duty…"

Perry flushed. "That was at the afterparty of a wedding, I wasn't even IN the agency, and we were just kissing. Nothing happened. Just drop that one. You were the only one who saw it, anyway."

"Throwing a very large lemon pie at the Major…"

"Not my fault he wasn't ready to catch it. He said, 'I'M READY FOR PIE!' and I assumed that meant he was ready. …May I ask exactly how I'm supposed to clear these offenses?"

"You will need a signature from me."

"Great. Sign it."

Ernest stared at him.

"…Why do I get the feeling you're not gonna sign it?"

"Sometimes, Agent, agents don't respect me as a superior. I am used to agents getting on my nerves. You, however, have managed to get on every single one of them."

Perry slurped his coffee.

"If you insist upon behaving in such an impudent manner every time we cross paths, I see no reason why I should sign this paper." Ernest said.

"You don't need a reason to sign it. I'll just call you Sir from now on and we can be even. Kay?"

"I don't believe I owe you any favors." Ernest said.

Perry narrowed his eyes. "Seriously? You really won't sign it off just because I get on your nerves?"  
"Call it what you like."

"And what's this about not owing me favors? I guess you don't remember the time you left me to die after that agency attack?"

Ernest's face turned red. "I… well, I saved your life after that chasm explosion!"

"Yeah, super-impressive. A skinny fennec fox with lung issues runs a full mile hauling my weight, but you prefer to save my life when I happen to be right within your reach. That's cool, Ernie. Real cool."

Ernest's eyes flashed. He seemed to be searching for a reply.

Finally, he snatched up his pen again and violently scribbled his name at the bottom of the paper. He shoved the paper at Perry.

"Get out." He hissed.

"Thank you." Perry said, shifting his coffee mug and doughnut to the other hand. He took the paper in his free hand. "Good chat."

"Just get out." Ernest snapped.

Perry shrugged and left the office.

* * *

"Peter, our leader." Peter said, handing Perry a flyer.

Perry frowned at it. "What the heck is this?"

"The O.W.C.A has no leader." Peter informed him. "I figured that if no one steps up to the plate, I'll take the job."

"We don't need a leader." Perry said. "The General's in charge."

"He was inspired because my owner ran for class president in his school." Devon the dog said. He handed Perry a second flyer. "Vote for Peter."

"Peter for the people." Peter said.

Perry opened up the flyer. A large picture of Peter greeted him.

 ** _PETER, OUR LEADER_**

 ** _Peter the panda was born to a very poor family in a straw house that he built with his own two paws._**

Perry raised an eyebrow.

"We needed to create an appealing past." Peter said. "To get support from the common people."

"I get it. What I don't get is how you managed to build a straw house while you were still in the womb."

"I'm talented." Peter said.

"M'kay then. Enjoy. I need to go submit these forms. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Remember," Peter spread his arms out wide. "A vote for Peter is a vote for everyone."

"I will remember that." Perry said.

* * *

"Strange place for our first lead." Rolf the rooster commented.

He and Derek the dachshund were standing outside of the O.W.C.A resort and spa.

"Maybe we're not on the right track." Derek said.

"We've been trying to solve this case for pretty much three years now." Rolf said. "This is our first lead. We have to take it."

Derek yawned. "Okay. Let's go in."

They entered the building and came into a gorgeous, gleaming lobby. Two fountains bubbled in front of the front desk, where a seagull was going through paperwork.

Rolf approached the front desk and rang the bell. The seagull straightened. "Yes, may I help you?"

"Are you Sven the seagull?" Rolf asked.

The seagull nodded. "Yes, yes I am. Are you two looking for a room or looking to try our services? If this is your first time here, I can make some recommendations."

"No, thank you. My colleague and I…" Rolf gestured towards Derek, who had begun to drink from one of the fountains. "…are here investigating an arson case from many years ago. We were unable to find a lead until now. Many clues and sources informed us that you, Sven the seagull, may have been a witness to the arson."

Sven reached into a bowl of ice on the counter and began rubbing an ice cube into his wings. He looked confused. "An arson from a few years ago?"

"Yes." Rolf said. "The burning of Danville Farm."

Sven's face paled.

"Aha!" Derek jerked his head out of the fountain, water dripping down his face. "He does know something."

"Tell us what happened." Rolf said.

Sven seemed to have difficulty speaking.

"You all right?" Derek asked.

"I… I'm sorry. I just… have a bad history with fires. I don't like to think about them for very long." Sven clutched his ice cube tightly. "I'll... tell you what I know."  
"Do begin." Rolf said.

"I… I was just walking by when I saw it." Sven said. "Burning to the ground. I didn't stay long. But it had obviously been set with gasoline. That's all I can tell you."

"Funny." Rolf said, narrowing his eyes. "Our sources say that you were seen leaving the scene with a towel."

"…Yes." Sven said. The ice cracked in his hands.

"What was in that towel?"

Sven closed his eyes. "I'm sorry. I haven't… wanted to talk about it because I'm… so scared of fire. I… I went into the building when I saw it burning. I wanted to make sure no animals had been trapped during the fire… I had friends in Danville Farm. It was empty… I was going to leave when I saw the gasoline can sitting on the floor. The fire was just about to spread to it. I figured it would be best to get it out of there and avoid an explosion. I had a towel in my pocket… I threw it over the can… and got it out of there. That's the story."

Sven's ice cube had melted completely in his shaking hands.

"I see." Rolf said. "Thank you for your time. You did not happen to see the arsonist at all? Or anything suspicious?"

Sven shook his head. "Just the gasoline can."

"Thank you for your time." Rolf said. He gestured to Derek to follow him, and they left.

"I've always wanted to swim in a fountain." Derek said. "Hey, Rolf, you know what? I think that guy is lying to us. Why would you put a towel on a gasoline can? Why would you pick up a gasoline can, anyway? Most people would get the heck out of there."

"He is lying to us." Rolf said.

"How are we ever gonna solve this case?" Derek asked.

"We'll just have to trick him into telling us the truth." Rolf said. "The real truth about what happened that fateful day in November… only a few years ago."


	3. Chapter 3

Ernest paced back and forth through the room. The animals all watched him. They were all seated at long, grey tables with large booklets in front of them.

Ernest paused suddenly, picked up a paper from his desk, and began to read. "There will be no chittering, barking, meowing, mooing, clucking, snorting, bleating, chattering, hissing, purring, chirping, tweeting, quacking, honking, roaring, growling, snarling, or ANY noise whatsoever during the test. If you make any sound once the test has begun, you will be asked to leave. Cheating will not be tolerated and you will be asked to leave. If you are feeling unwell and are unable to finish the test, please notify me so that you will be allowed to leave, and I will destroy your test booklet."

Perry snickered.

Ernest glared at him before continuing. "If you have any questions, concerns or comments, please ask now, as you are not allowed to speak during the test time."

Perry raised his hand.

Ernest sighed. "Yes?"

"How does one go about destroying a test booklet?"  
Ernest narrowed his eyes.

"Will you shred it? Or burn it? Or explode it?"

"Any REAL questions?" Ernest asked.

A wombat in the front raised her paw. "Is it better to skip over a question on the test that we don't know the answer to or is it better to guess?"

"No, it's better to destroy your test booklet." Perry said.

"One more snide remark and you will be asked to leave." Ernest snapped. He turned to the wombat. "It's best to guess. All right. You may now turn over your test sheets and begin."

* * *

"We are officially celebrating." Perry said, hopping onto Phineas's bed. "Go downstairs and get in the hovercar."

"Did you pass your test?" Phineas asked excitedly, accidentally adding too many drops of a chemical to his beaker in his excitement. The solution made a soft popping noise, and a little wisp of smoke emitted from the beaker. Ferb passed out.

"Um…" Perry looked over at Ferb. "No, I just took it. But I think that calls for celebration. Also, I haven't had breakfast yet. Revive Ferb. We're going to my friend Morey's place. Best bagels. Bagels and doughnuts are the only substantial breakfast foods. Besides Mmm-brand cereal, but this is beyond cereal celebration."

"Yay." Phineas turned to Ferb. "Ferb, why are you asleep? Perry has some exciting news for us."

"I'll get the cold water bucket." Perry said.

* * *

"Can't believe Morey's is closed on Wednesdays." Perry said dejectedly, spreading cream cheese on his bagel.

"It's a random day to be closed, too." Phineas said.

"Morey's bagels always come with plenty of cream cheese." Perry said. "And he makes it himself. It's not anything like this single teeny tub of fakey-grossness."

"Grossy-fakeness." Ferb said. "This syrup is all plasticky, too."

"Well, that's it for our celebrating." Perry took one bite of his bagel and put it down. "Let's go somewhere else. Sven's place is always open. He's got good food, and I have my own huge room there."

"So we'll eat and then sit in your room?" Phineas asked.

"My room is awesome. It's got a pool on the balcony, a hot tub, a high-def TV, a super-soft king-size bed that I have to use a stepladder to get into…"

"Ferb and I have a room kind of like that, too." Phineas said. "In our secret clubhouse we built."

"Really? How come I've never seen it?"

"It was such a secret clubhouse that we couldn't remember where we secretly hid it after we left to go eat dinner." Ferb said.

"It was expensive." Phineas said.

"Come on." Perry stood up. "Let's ditch this place and get some real food."

* * *

"Looks like Sven is closed on Wednesdays, too." Phineas said.

"Sven is closed for business." Ferb said.

"Ew. You guys." Perry knocked on the automatic door. "Stop it. The O.W.C.A resort is never closed. Not for me, anyways. If I can't grab his attention, I'll just use my key. We'll have to break into the snack bar, but I'm sure Sven will understand."

Sven came running from down the hall. He reached into an ice bucket next to the door and pulled out a key, which he then used to open the automatic doors.

"Per." Sven said. "Good to see you."

He didn't look as happy to see them as Perry had expected. He was shaking a little, and he looked very pale.

"You okay?" Perry asked. "You look kind of stressed."  
"The boys…?" Sven pointed.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you. Monogram said it was okay. We've been communicating for almost a couple of years now. But don't let him know it's been longer than he thinks it has. And don't let him know Candace knows. And now Stacy. Basically, the entire neighborhood's gonna find out sooner or later. Anyway, Sven, meet Phineas and Ferb. Phineas and Ferb, meet Sven."

Sven gave them a nod. "Can they understand me?"

"No, their translators only work for me."

"Come on in." Sven moved away from the doorframe. Phineas looked around the lobby in awe. Ferb went over to the fountain and started to drink from it.

Sven locked the automatic door up behind Perry.

"What's with everything being closed on Wednesdays?" Perry asked. "…Seriously, Sven, are you okay? You really don't look good."

"Help yourselves to anything in the snack bar." Sven said. "I'm sorry you just missed breakfast. Spa services are also closed until further notice. Rooms are open… gym's open… the pool's open."

"Glad you mentioned the snack bar. We've gotten so crazy celebrating that we were planning to break in there if you didn't offer. …Sven… something's wrong. Talk to me. I can help you."

Sven sighed. "All right. Not here, though. We'll talk in my room."

Perry turned to the boys. "Guys, the snack bar behind the desk is open. I'll be right back. Ferb, quit drinking from the fountain. You have no idea what animals have stuck their tongues in there. Maybe cats, if you know what I'm saying."

Ferb quickly pulled back from the fountain.

"Come on." Sven grabbed an ice cube from a bucket sitting on the floor and led Perry down the hall.

They passed many doors until they came to a large set of double-doors labeled 197. Sven pulled a key out of his pocket and opened them.

Perry walked in. Sven's room was much bigger than the rest of the rooms at the resort, but it was also emptier and it didn't look like it had been used much. Coolers and bags of ice sat near the fridge. Perry was sure that there was more ice within. The air conditioner was innocently producing a temperature the continent of Antarctica would have envied.

Sven closed the door behind them and locked it carefully.

"So what's up?" Perry asked.

"You may want to sit." Sven rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Perry sat down on the bed.

"I'm so sorry, Per. I didn't want to bring this up because I know it's… very painful for you. And the date coming so close."

Perry frowned.

"I really shouldn't talk to you about this." Sven said. "But then again, maybe I should. We never did really talk about it, and I think that hurt you in the long run. Still… you've been getting better. I can see you're a lot happier, much like your old self."

"Sven. Just tell me."

Sven closed his eyes. "They're onto the arson. They think I did it."

"What arson?"

Sven opened his eyes again. "Danville Farm, Perry. Because I was the only one seen leaving the scene, they think I did it. I tried my best to throw them off track, Per. They asked me what was in the towel I carried out. I told them it was a can of gasoline I found there. I didn't know what else to say, Per. But now they suspect I've done it. I-"

"They think YOU…" Perry squinted. "Mr. I-Hate-Heat… would start a fire on purpose?"

"All signs do point that way." Sven said sadly.

"Wait, I'm confused. Danville Farm was an arson job? I thought that place just burned down."

Sven froze.

"…and… why did you go into a burning building if you're afraid of fire? And what do you mean, 'throw them off track'? Who… who did do it?"

"I shouldn't have said anything." Sven said softly. "I really shouldn't have. Perry… just forget about it, okay?"  
"Sven, I can't help you unless you tell me. I am so confused right now."

Sven shook his head.

"I can help you clear your name, Sven." Perry stood up. "Really, I can do this. If… if you're worried about me getting upset because the farm used to be Terrence's home, don't worry. I hate that place. I've always hated it. It wasn't his home, or the home of any of the animals that lived there. As a matter of fact, I'm glad it burned down."

Sven had tears in his eyes.

"Sven…"

"I was so stupid, Per." Sven said. "I didn't get help, and I should have."

"Sven, now you're making even less sense than before. Seriously. I can help you. Just please, shed a little more than a night-light on this situation."

"Never mind the whole thing, Per." Sven shook his head. "I'll deal with it. You just have fun with the boys here… celebrating? Were you celebrating something?"

"Finished my Elite Agent test. Still waiting to hear back. What do you mean, never mind the whole thing?"

"Don't worry about it. Just have fun." Sven gestured toward the door.

"You're making me feel so guilty. You somehow managed to bring me back from the dead when I had hypothermia, you give me a free resort room, free food and refuse to let me pay you for services, and you don't let me help you when you need me to. I'm your friend, Sven. It's time I really started doing something for you instead of all this one-sided stuff."

"…Elite Agent? You applied? That's awesome, Per! You'll finally get that art lair you've been wanting…"

"Quit trying to change the subject."

"Please." Sven said, grabbing Perry's shoulders. Perry flinched from the cold. "If you really want to help me, then please just let me change the subject. We'll celebrate all together. It'll help me forget everything. I'll feel better, I'll see the situation more clearly, I'll figure out how to get out of this. Don't be nervous."

"Cold." Perry said.

Sven released his grip. "Sorry."

* * *

"He was acting so weird." Perry said. "Like… like I knew how the fire had happened. It seemed like maybe he really had burned the place down, and he was worried they would find out, and he thought I knew he'd done it and when he realized I didn't he wanted me to forget about it."

"Jump." Ferb said.

Perry turned. Two feet were standing in front of him by the poolside. They leapt into the air, and Ferb splashed down into the water.

"Do you think he really set the fire?" Phineas asked, paddling toward Perry on an inflatable dolphin.

Perry shook his head. "Sven nearly passed out when he accidentally brushed his hand against my coffee mug once. He has a horrible fear of heat. He can't even watch movies with fires in them."  
"How did he manage to go in a burning building, then?" Phineas asked.

"I… I don't know. I don't understand why he said he did. I don't think there's any way he could have."

"When did he start being afraid of heat?" Phineas asked. "Since forever?"

"I…" Perry thought back. "Come to think of it… I remember him serving me hot food and sitting by a fire in the lobby once. That was back when we first met… I was three or so. He started doing the ice cube thing and serving me frozen stuff…"

Perry paused.

"When?" Phineas asked.

"…after the farm burned down." Perry said. "It burned down the day after Terrence died… I found out that evening, after it had already been burned. I was already feeling horrible… I had a bad cough and my friend had just died… after I spent hours crying underneath running water… I went to Sven for comfort… and he… gave me ice water… and he kept rubbing an ice cube over his wings… I was so sad I didn't notice it…"

Ferb surfaced and stared at Perry in shock.

Phineas said nothing.

"…before Terrence died… after I last saw him… I was with Sven… helping him load gasoline into his home. He needed it for a road trip or something… it was gone when I came there after the fire… I didn't notice… he… he must have done it. He must have been avenging Terrence… and now they're onto him."


	4. Chapter 4

"…Are you gonna tell someone?" Phineas asked.

"Heck, no." Perry shook his head. "Sven means the world to me. I wouldn't rat him out. He'd do the same for me. Besides, no one was hurt. I've heard about that arson. The animals were all evacuated before the arsonist burned down the building. It was simply a way to free the others so they didn't meet Terrence's fate… and a statement to avenge Terrence. It's not like Sven went and murdered anyone."

"Were Sven and Terrence close?"

Perry shrugged. "They were both my friends. Met a couple of times. But you have to realize, Phin, even if they didn't know each other, the way Terrence died was horrible. It made everyone angry, even the people who weren't close to him. Anyone could have been a suspect for the arson… they just… managed to figure Sven out."

Ferb went back underwater.

Perry grabbed a pool noodle as it floated by and climbed onto it, staring down at the dark blue water. It glimmered in the moonlight.

"So cool you have a pool on the balcony." Phineas said happily. "You said Sven runs this place all by himself? How'd he ever get the money?"

"The agency funds half of it." Perry said. "The rest Sven earned himself doing odd jobs. And by odd jobs, I mean REALLY odd jobs. There's this photo of him holding a balloon while riding on a pygmy hippo. I have no idea what that job was called, but it seemed like it paid well."

"Maybe Sven didn't do it." Phineas said.

"Maybe." Perry said doubtfully.

Ferb surfaced again. "Maybe my cow did it."

* * *

"We are gathered here today…" Ernest said, standing behind a large podium with O.W.C.A etched on the front. "…to honor those who have just been admitted into the position of Elite Agent. I'm sure you are all just as excited as I am to see who worked so hard to succeed."

Henrietta the hippo yawned.

Lizzy the lizard was reading a book.

Brian the buffalo picked his nose.

"Not gonna get my hopes up." Perry whispered to Pinky.

"I seriously doubt you didn't get in." Pinky whispered back.

"I know. My hopes are totally all the way up to the moon by now."

"Firstly, Winifred the Wombat!" Ernest said. "Please stand and make a speech."

Everyone clapped. Winifred stood up from her seat.

"Wow." Winifred said, blushing. "I hardly know what to say. Um… I'd like to thank my parents… and my superiors for supporting me… and of course, all of the agents at the O.W.C.A."

"Me?" Perry whispered to Pinky. "Omigosh. I am so honored to have helped Winifred get the position. Even though I didn't even know what the heck her name was and have only seen her around twice in all the years I've worked here. But really."

Pinky nudged him. "Shh."

Winifred sat back down. Everyone applauded again.

"Next, Juan the jaguar!" Ernest said.

Juan stood up. All of the female agents swooned.

"I am, how do you say… honored." Juan said, sweeping a lock of fur out of his eyes.

"Oh, Juan." The female agents sighed.

"I would like to thank… how do you say… my mother and father, for always…" He turned to Serah the swan. "…being there."

Serah fainted.

"And… I would also love to thank the superiors, and all of the agents around me."

Everyone applauded.

"Thank you, Juan." Ernest said. "And next, we have Franklin the flamingo."

Franklin stood up. "I would like to thank my parents…"

"…my parents…" Perry whispered to Pinky. "…and my superiors, and all of the agents here at the O.W.C.A."

"…my superiors for teaching me all I need to know, and of course, all of you here at the O.W.C.A." Franklin said.

"I don't get why people keep thanking me." Perry said. "I don't remember ever helping Franklin with anything. The only reason I know who he is is because I use his name instead of saying f-"

"Thank you, Franklin." Ernest said. "An inspired speech."

"Very original." Perry said under his breath.

Ernest looked down at his list. "All right… next up we have Perry the platypus."

Everyone clapped. Perry felt a wave of happiness flush through him. Sure, he was expecting to get the promotion anyways, but just knowing that it really was his… not just guessing or hoping for it anymore…

Perry stood up. He felt a little embarrassed. "Been waiting for this for a while… super happy. Um… so long as we're thanking people, I don't wanna bore you all by repeating that generic phrase others used as their speeches, so I'm not gonna thank my superiors or you guys or anything all together. Instead, I shall thank Major Monogram for forcing me to work long hours… that's how I managed to scrape together enough hours to qualify. Um… and I'd like to thank my owners, for feeding me so that I could appear before you all today… oh, and how could I be so selfish? I'd like to thank my parents, I would not be here at all if they hadn't con-"

"THANK YOU, Agent P." Ernest said. "That will do."

"And lastly, thanks to the flittering eagle for not destroying my test booklet." Perry said quickly.

* * *

"Got it! Got it!" Perry dragged Phineas and Ferb toward the backyard tree.

"The elite agent position?" Phineas asked. "Yay, Perry! We knew you could! Um… why are you dragging us?"

"You've gotta see." Perry pressed his paw on the trunk. The tree opened up to reveal a small tube. "This way. Down the tree tunnel."

The boys climbed into the tube along with him. It was a tight fit.

The tree closed, and the platform they stood on began to descend.

As soon as it stopped, Phineas squeezed out. "Your lair." He said fondly. "I always liked it in here."

"You've got to see." Perry said. He hopped out of the tube and ran over to the wall behind it. He placed his paw on a small screen and waited as the machine interpreted his pawprint.

The screen blinked green. A small section of the wall opened up, and Perry walked through.

The boys followed him.

"Ta-da." Perry said softly.

"Woah." Phineas said, looking around. "Wow."

Ferb whistled.

"Isn't… it… AMAZING?" Perry asked. He scrambled over to the far end of the completely white room and pointed at a stack of shelves. "Look at this. Tons of shelf space. So much art supplies can go here. And see the walls? And the ceiling? Complete canvases just waiting to be painted on! And look at all the stuff I stocked… there's glue, paper, paint, markers, pastels, chalk, crayons, pens, pencils, erasers, blenders, stamps, stickers, dyes, glitter, foam, fabric, clay… literally, everything. I'm so excited. This entire room is mine. I can decorate it however I want… just come in here and create things. Create anything I want. It's finally mine."

"What are you gonna paint on the walls?" Phineas asked.

"A mural. I'm thinking of a light teal backdrop… maybe a couple rainbows over there by the back wall, and then I'm gonna paint people that mean a lot to me. You know… you guys, Terrence, Sven, Doofenshmirtz, Monty… and the ceiling, I think either a night-and-day sky or just random symbols and such that make me feel happy. I really needed a place like this to wind down. Oh, and see this closet over here? I put all the art I already made in there. Want to see them?"

"Yeah!" Phineas said. He and Ferb sat down at the large white art table in the middle of the room. Perry opened up the closet and pulled out a portfolio. He stuck it in the middle of the table.

Phineas opened it and pulled out a drawing. "Cool! What's this?"

"A caricature of Ernest." Perry said. "Resembles him quite well, I think."

"I like this one." Ferb said. He held up a small square of paper painted with watercolors.

"Doofenshmirtz's portrait? Yeah, I like that one too. I originally made it for him as a birthday gift, but I liked the way it turned out too much to give it away."

Phineas laughed and passed Perry a drawing of Monogram made on notebook paper.

Perry snickered. "Oh yeah. I drew that when Monogram thought I was taking notes."

"This one's different." Phineas said. He reached into the portfolio and produced a long sheet of paper. A very distorted silhouette of a platypus had been drawn on it with graphite.

"Oh yeah. I was really upset when I drew that. I have a whole series of those drawings."

"It's sad." Phineas said.

"It is." Perry agreed. "Very accurate depiction of my feelings during that time, however. You can tell I was super-upset because I can't stand drawing with graphite. It makes this annoying scratchy sound and it's very hard on the paper and my hands."

"Aww. It's us." Ferb said, pointing at a sketch.

"Yeah. You, me, Phineas and Irving because he was in the background of the picture I took to work from."

"Creepy how he manages to be around so much." Phineas said.

"At least Irving has no intention of murdering you two." Perry said.

"As far as we know." Ferb said.

* * *

Pascal blew out the candles.

"Hey. Cut it out." Perry picked him up and set him down on the floor. "I lit those on purpose."

"On TV people blow them out." Pascal said.

"Don't shows use that 'Hey Kids, Don't Try This At Home' deal anymore?"

"I un-know." Pascal shrugged and waddled off into the living room.

Perry smiled and shook his head. He struck another match and began relighting the candles on the dining table.

Suddenly white foam came spraying toward his face. Instinctively, Perry ducked.

"Fire is danger." Pandora informed him.

Perry sighed. "Pandy, put the fire extinguisher down. How you even managed to lift that in the first place…"

Pandora tossed the fire extinguisher to the floor. It dented the wood slightly.

"I have an idea." Perry picked her up. "Let's go play in the living room."

He walked down the hall and attempted to enter the living room.

He bounced back off an invisible wall.

Sneakers was levitating in the middle of the living room, casting a pink glow on all the furniture. She began to rotate.

"I guess Sneakers has claimed the living room as her territory for the moment." Perry said. "Man, that cutonium stuff has some weird effects. Go find Pascal and play in your rooms." Perry set Pandora down on the floor. She scrambled upstairs.

Perry waited to make sure she got up without falling before heading back into the kitchen.

Prince wandered into the room. "What's this?"

"Extinguished fancy dinner candles and a completely inedible dinner, thanks to Pandy."

Prince looked down at the floor. "And another dent in the wood. Great. What's the occasion?"

"I got it."

"You got what?"

"The promotion." Perry grinned.  
"I knew you would." Prince wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. "That's awesome. More flexible hours, more time together."

"Sorry the dinner's a bust."

"That's all right. We can go out to eat."

"Do we have a babysitter for Thing One and Thing Two?"

"I'll call the Cat in the Hat."

"The Cat in the Hat is currently casting a really weird forcefield in the living room."


	5. Chapter 5

"So… darn… freezing! I hate when it gets this cold." Perry complained.

"The wintertime is approaching." Ferb said cheerfully.

"The wintertime is evil."

"You're a bit of a pessimist." Ferb said.

"You're just now learning this about me? Wow, Ferb. Many, many years of living together… all this time… and you just now realize. I can't believe this. Is it gonna totally blow your mind when I tell you that Phineas is an optimist?"

"Cool!" Phineas said. "A bee landed on my jacket!"

"That was creepily on cue." Perry said.

"I love the transition between fall and winter." Phineas spun around. "I love the leaves falling, the cool breezes…"

"You mean the baby dry ice particles RIDING on the breezes."

"…and leaf piles and plumpkin pie and delicious things, and picking apples from the apple tree in the park and carrying them home in our buckets…"

"You know what song I hate?" Perry asked. "That one with the guy and the bucket. He keeps nagging his girlfriend to help him fix his bucket and he basically has to get walked through the whole process and in the end, he doesn't even fix it."

"There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza, there's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, a hole." Phineas sang.

"Shut u-up, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry…" Perry replied.

"Put a sock in it, Liza, dear Liza, dear Liza…" Ferb sang.

"Keep your trap shut, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry…"

"Um… I don't think that's how the song goes." Phineas said.

* * *

On a scale from Normal to Completely Unexpected, Perry was incredibly surprised with the scene that met him when he entered the main room.

No new recruits were attempting to paste each other to the walls. Baby Ned wasn't talking about butts. Peter wasn't gambling.

Instead, the morning-shift agents were all sitting very nicely in folding chairs, all facing the back of the room, where a projector was set up. A man at the front was speaking to them.

"Agent P." Monogram whispered.

Perry jumped and turned around.

"Good, you're here. Seminar Stanley has come to talk to the agents today about social skills."

"I knew I should have stayed home today." Perry muttered.

"There are some refreshments by the window if you'd like to partake. But please, sit down and listen. I'll brief you afterwards."

Perry gave a sigh. He went over to the refreshment table and attempted to fill up a coffee mug from the orange juice dispenser.

They appeared to have run out of orange. The water in his cup was a clear yellow.

Perry dumped the cup and filled it up with hot water instead. He opened up a tea bag, stuck it inside his mug and sat down in an empty chair between Peter and Poppy the platypus.

"Now." Seminar Stanley was saying. "I know what you're all thinking. Social skills are difficult to acquire."

"Pretty much." Perry said.

"But you know what? They really aren't! Go on, turn to the person next to you and say, 'Hello, friend'!"

"Friend may be pushing it a bit." Perry turned to Peter. "Hello, acquaintance."

Peter tipped his fedora. "Hello, slightly-more-well-known-than-a-stranger."

"Now, turn to the other person! Hello, friend!"

Perry turned to Poppy. "Hello, person-I-saw-on-the-street-once."

"Hello, Mister-doesn't-want-to-be-here."

"Hit the nail directly on the head there." Perry said.

"Friends, friends, everywhere!" Stanley said. "Shout it out! HELLO, FRIENDS EVERYWHERE!"

"TRICERATOPS PINEAPPLE." Perry yelled.

"Very good!" Stanley said.

* * *

"That was an interesting seminar this morning." Erica the ermine commented.

"Ugh, don't remind me. I'm still trying to get Stanley's 'Together is Better' song out of my head." Perry said.

Peter began to sing. "Together is better, when we are together, I will not forget-er you! Let's be friends until the very very end, best bud-dies with you!"

"Shut up." Perry said.

"That's not very friendly of you." Peter said. He picked up a paper. "So where do the blue papers go?"

"We've gone over this, Peter." Wendell the wolf said. "The blue papers go in the blue folder. The green papers go in the green folder. The orange papers go in the orange folder."

"Ah, okay." Peter said. He put the blue paper in a blue folder. "So where do the red papers go?"

Wendell closed his eyes. "When Monogram said he would send in the best available agents to help me sort files, I was expecting some of them to show up."

"Heyy." Peter said. He picked up a green paper. "This was in the wrong pile."

"November, huh?" Wendell said, stacking a few of the folders. "Soon it'll be December."

"Yeah." Erica agreed. "And there's the Thanksgiving party to look forward to."

"Oh, right!" Wendell said. "Hey, Perry, you did a great job organizing the Ghostly Gathering a few weeks ago. Are you helping to plan out the Thanksgiving one?"

"No." Perry said flatly.

"You should. You've got great ideas." Erica said.

"I remember the first time we had a Thanksgiving party, I thought the stuffing was the same thing as stuffing in stuffed animals." Peter said. "So I got some cloth and I made a teddy bear with stuffing stuffing. But then Delilah the Doberman ate it. Another time I made a stuffed cow out of cloth and catnip, but Carrie the cat ate it."

Erica laughed. "Ew."

"My favorite feast food has got to be that marshmallow yam dish." Wendell said.

Perry put a hand to his head.

"Are you feeling okay?" Wendell asked.

"…No. I have a headache." Perry said. He could feel it starting near his temples.

"Do you want me to help you to the medical wing?"

"No… it's not that bad. Um… can you call the receptionist and tell her I need to check out?"

"Yeah, sure." Wendell shrugged. "Feel better."

Perry stood up and left the room. He sat down on the floor outside and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed a number.

"Hello?"

"Hey… Prince… I need you to pick me up."

"You okay? You sound like you just watched that sad dog movie seven times in a row."

"I have a headache. I don't feel good. I need you to pick me up."

"'Kay. Where are you?"

"The agency."

Prince paused for a moment before speaking. "You do remember you can just ride an elevator up to your house, right?"

"I don't want to worry the boys. Can you please pick me up?"

"Take you back here? Yeah, I guess. Are you sick?"  
"It's just my head that's bothering me."

"Okay. I'll be there in a bit."

"Thanks." Perry hung up and closed his eyes.

* * *

 _There were flames._

 _Flames licking the walls, flames rising up to the ceiling…_

 _Someone was standing in the middle of the room, holding a can of gasoline. The fire blazed around him._

 _The person seemed to be losing strength, forgetting where he was. He began to struggle to the floor, coughing as the smoky air filled his lungs. Tears in his eyes. It seemed as though he had been crying for a long time._

 _The gasoline can fell to the ground. So did the arsonist. The arsonist was having a lot of trouble breathing now, but he didn't seem to be aware…_

 _"Oh no… no, no… come on…"_

 _It was Sven._

 _Sven ran into the barn. He was holding a wet towel. Flames were continuing to dance all around him, but he didn't flinch._

 _He shook the arsonist._

 _"Come on… breathe… it's okay… everything will be okay… come on…"_

 _The arsonist gave a shuddering breath. It turned into a series of coughs._

 _Sven tossed the wet towel over the arsonist and scooped him up. Staying as low as he could, he attempted to exit the building._

 _"It'll be all right… don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you."_

"Perry?"

Perry woke up. Prince was stroking his forehead.

"Hey. You okay? I'm here."

Perry rubbed his eyes. "…I think so. …Sven… Sven's not the arsonist. I was wrong. But he knows who is…"

"What the heck are you talking about?"

"My dream…"

"You're awake now. Come on." Prince helped him stand up. Perry teetered slightly.

"My head…"

"It's just a little way to the car. Then we'll get home and you can lie down on the couch. Okay?"

"Okay…"

Perry tried desperately to remember the arsonist's face. He couldn't place it.

But he definitely knew that voice.

It must have been someone he and Sven both knew.

* * *

Perry stared up at the ceiling.

He could hear Pascal and Pandora playing in the kitchen. Pandora obviously had her plastic phone toy. Perry could hear her dragging it across the wood floor by its cord.

"Hello?" Pandora said after a couple of rings. "Hello?"

"Who is it?" Pascal asked.

"It's someone." Pandora said.

Perry almost laughed.

Prince kneeled down next to him and felt his forehead. "Well, you don't have a temperature. You don't feel warm, either. Must just be a random headache."

"Must be." Perry said.

Suddenly Pascal screamed. A loud banging noise sounded from the kitchen.

Perry sat up. "What-"

Prince pushed him back down. "Don't worry. He does that sometimes. Unpredictable tantrums. Not dangerous. You rest."

"Okay."

Prince stood up and went back into the kitchen. "What's up, Pascal?"

"No!"

"Can't fix it unless you tell me what's wrong."

"NO!"

Perry rubbed his head. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed Phineas's number.

"Phin?"

"Oh, hi, Perry." Phineas said cheerfully. "Guess what? Ferb and I are playing Old Stem. We're going back to Pika Kingdom."

"Has your brain been replaced with cottage cheese? Don't you remember how terrifying that was?"

"We're slow learners." Ferb piped up in the background.

"I'll put you on speaker so Ferb can talk too. Anyway, wanna come?" Phineas asked.

"Heck no. Listen, Phin. Sven's not the arsonist. I had a dream about it a few hours ago."

"Once I dreamed that Baljeet turned giant and stepped on all of Danville." Phineas said.

"I've told you about this. I've got some kind of sixth sense about things that either happened when I wasn't there or haven't happened yet. My subconscious showed me that Sven wasn't the arsonist. He just knew the arsonist. The arsonist was what was in the wet towel he carried out of the barn."

"I have a sixth sense, too." Ferb said. "I call it smelltaste."

"Along with the story of your birth, let's stick that on the list of things I do not want to hear about." Perry said.

"Did you see the arsonist's face, Perry?"

"No. But I heard his voice. And I know him. I've heard his voice before. I just can't remember where… but I know I know him. If I figure out who it is, I can get Sven off the hook."


	6. Chapter 6

Perry woke up for the third time.

The large living room clock was chiming. Stupid thing. It went off every single hour, and, coincidentally, woke him up every single hour.

Perry sat up. His head was still throbbing. Everything ached.

"Prince?" He said weakly.

Perry got up and wrapped the couch blanket around his body. He slowly made his way into the kitchen and down the long hallway to the bedroom.

He found Prince sleeping soundly in the bed. He climbed into the bed and wrapped his arms around her.

Prince stirred a little. Perry kissed her on the cheek and closed his eyes.

He wished Sven would confide in him. It was disconcerting to think that his friend could get arrested for a crime he didn't commit.

Perry completely understood if Sven wanted to protect the arsonist. He would do the same. He pretty much had done the same thing already, not betraying Prince's arson of a factory at the expense of his own arrest.

Perry climbed out of bed again and quietly opened the door to the connecting room. He had to step over a few piles of magazines and books to get to the couch.

He sat down, opened Prince's laptop, and logged into his messaging program.

 **Owcapplat: hey**

 **Owcapplat: anyone there**

 **Owcapplat: anyone at all**

 **Owcapplat: anyone**

 **Owcapplat: bueller**

 **Phinboy22: hi perry**

 **Phinboy22: why are you up we already talked**

 **Owcapplat: i know i can't sleep**

 **Owcapplat: why are you still up**

 **Phinboy22: ferb isn't home yet i'm lonely**

 **Owcapplat: where is he?**

 **Phinboy22: he went to the store with mom to get marshmallows**

 **Phinboy22: i wanted to stay home**

 **Phinboy22: too tired**

 **Owcapplat: too tired for marshmallows**

 **Phinboy22: uh huh**

 **Phinboy22: stayed up all night last night watching a movie and now i'm up tonight again i can't sleep since ferb's not here but i'm too tired to go shopping**

 **Owcapplat: which movie**

 **Phinboy22: cream of the crop**

 **Owcapplat: i hate that expression**

 **Owcapplat: it makes me think of an entire field of tomatoes with cream poured on it and people harvesting it**

 **Owcapplat: it's gross**

 **Phinboy22: oh well it's about this guy who tries to place first in a race to be cream of the crop**

 **Phinboy22: because he was never first in anything**

 **Phinboy22: but he ended up in second place**

 **Owcapplat: so instead of cream of the crop he became cream of the corn**

 **Phinboy22: second banana**

 **Owcapplat: soup de jour instead of scoop de jour**

 **Phinboy22: lol**

 **Phinboy22: hey perry you know how you were telling me about that dream a few hours ago**

 **Owcapplat: yep**

 **Phinboy22: i was just thinking it's weird because usually your dreams are about the future or about the present not the past**

 **Owcapplat: yeah**

 **Phinboy22: and usually it has something to do with you**

 **Phinboy22: maybe you know who the arsonist is too but you just don't remember**

 **Owcapplat: think i'd remember something like that**

 **Phinboy22: well maybe it was scary**

 **Phinboy22: i don't remember a lot of stuff from when i was little but sometimes i see something that reminds me and i remember**

 **Owcapplat: you think i have repressed memories**

 **Phinboy22: maybe**

 **Phinboy22: it happens a lot to people**

 **Owcapplat: how do i remember then**

 **Phinboy22: i don't know**

 **Phinboy22: i think you just have to have your memory sparked**

 **Phinboy22: and then sometimes it happens completely randomly like one time i was eating breakfast and then i remembered the time i fell down the stairs**

 **Owcapplat: how did cereal remind you of that**

 **Phinboy22: it's random i think that's what i'm saying**

 **Owcapplat: huh**

 **Phinboy22: but perry i wouldn't go trying to figure it out**

 **Phinboy22: the memory is gone for a reason i mean i remembered a lot of stuff i wish i could unremember**

 **Owcapplat: dang now i don't know what to do**

 **Phinboy22: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh**

 **Owcapplat: what**

 **Phinboy22: i am playing old stem i'm in pika kingdom**

 **Owcapplat: i cannot understand why you two were willing to go back two more times**

 **Owcapplat: finally tired**

 **Owcapplat: see you tomorrow**

 **Phinboy22: ok**

 **Phinboy22: i love you feel better**

 **Owcapplat: you too good night**

 **Phinboy22: night**

Perry closed the laptop and went back into the bedroom. He quietly climbed into bed and pulled the covers over himself.

"What were you doing?"  
"Dang. Thought I was being quiet." Perry said. "Just chatting with Phineas."

Prince rolled over and cuddled him. "Your headache gone?"

"Yeah. Pretty much."  
"Love you."

"Love you too." Perry closed his eyes. He was too tired to worry anymore.

* * *

Perry knocked on the door. He had to prop himself up by leaning against the table of flowers placed on the porch.

The door opened.

"Hey, Per! …You okay, bud?" Sven asked.

"My everything is sore." Perry hung his head.

Sven laughed. "What happened?"

"Not funny. Bending over. All day. Running around. Chasing L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. members. Exhausted. And I had to walk here because my hovercar ran out of gas about a mile away from here." Perry pointed behind himself. "Had to push it here."

"I've got some gasoline you can use. Come on in. Lie down on the couch if you want, I'll work out your knots."

"Good." Perry mumbled. He staggered into Sven's living room and flopped down on the couch.

"Been a while since you've visited me here." Sven commented as he disappeared into the living room closet. "I like getting to see you so much these days."

"Mmm hmm." Perry said. "Think the only time I've come here was the time I had hypothermia."

"Right, the time we met." Sven said. He dragged a can of gasoline out of the closet and placed it near the front door. "I remember it clearly. That was some blizzard. I'm glad I saw you through the window before the snow piled up too much to get out of the house."

"Me too. I thought I was done for." Perry was worried he'd catch hypothermia again just by being in the house. Sven had the air conditioning on full blast, and there were three fans blowing cold air across the room.

"Good thing I wasn't afraid of heat then." Sven said. He began to rub Perry's shoulders. "You're very tense right now. Try to relax."

"I am relaxed. Believe me. I'm too exhausted to hold myself up."

"Left shoulder."

"I don't want my arm to fall off the edge of the couch. I hate when the blood rushes down to my hand."

"Put your hand in front of your head instead of behind it. There you go. Now relax."

Perry felt himself nodding off. He tried to force himself to stay awake.

"You can sleep if you need to." Sven said.

"Sven… you started freaking out about heat after the fire. Did you get burned or something?"  
"…No. It was just… I'd never been so close to a fire before. It was… a very frightening experience. Intense heat just surrounding us."

"Oh."

"Perry, really, try to relax. You're tense again."

Perry sat up. He stared at the can of gasoline.

 _"Calm down, bud. Calm- put that down. Come on. Put that down. What's going on with you?"_

"What's wrong?" Sven asked.

Perry stood up. He felt dizzy. He could hear voices…

 _"Listen to me-"_

 _"It's… okay, Per. It's… gonna be… okay…"_

 _"I WILL KILL YOU! I WILL KILL YOU!"_

"Per?" Sven said. He put a hand on Perry's shoulder. "Per, your eyes look kind of funny. You okay?"

Completely forgetting about the pain in his muscles, Perry ran from the room. He flung open the front door and dashed out into the street.

* * *

Perry stopped running when he came to the tree-lined area of the O.W.C.A garden. The area always frightened him for some reason, so he never went near it.

But for some reason tonight… he felt drawn to it. He felt as though the trees were trying to get him to come closer so they could tell him something.

It was dark now. The large trees creaked and swayed in the wind. There were small dirt hills in the ground all around the trees. Grass was starting to grow over some of them.

A shovel was lying on the ground, partially buried in the dirt next to a pine tree. It was very rusty, and there appeared to be bloodstains on the handle.

Perry's hands began to shake. He was feeling very uncomfortable now. This place was strange and deeply unsettling.

…But familiar.

He had been here before.

Perry cautiously went further into the forest. He stopped in front of a pine tree that was much bigger than the others.

The tree had words burned into its trunk. Perry had to stand on his toes to make them out.

 _EVERYTHING LEAVES._

Perry began to shiver. He fell to the ground, dizzy and teary-eyed. He didn't understand what was happening. All he knew was that those words had caused some terrible feeling to come over him… he was losing consciousness…

Everything went black.

And his memories came flooding back.

* * *

"Seriously, Peter? A three of clubs?" Kyle asked. "You play hard."

"You now owe me fifty-three dollars." Peter said.

"Best out of six." Kyle said.

"You're on."

Sven burst into the main room. He looked panicked. "Help… I need help."

"Calm down, Smith." Ernest the eagle said. "What's the issue? Villains? Security breach in your workplace?"

"It's Perry." Sven said. "I think he's in trouble. I don't know where he went."


	7. Chapter 7

_"I will KILL you, you WRETCHED EXCUSE FOR AN INDIVIDUAL, I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU!"_

 _Brown was tearing across the grass. Perry could smell his fear, and it energized him even more. Good. Be afraid. Be terrified._  
 _"I! WILL! KILL YOU! I WILL KILL YOU!"_

 _Perry ran on after him, holding the pitchfork in front of himself, fully intending to use it…_

 _Brown was out of Perry's range now. Perry tossed the pitchfork at him. It fell pitifully on the ground only a foot away, but Perry wasn't worried about Brown anymore. He turned and ran back the way he had come, his heart pounding faster and faster the closer he got to the immobile lump lying in the grass._

 _Perry bent down next to Terrence and rolled him over. He was greatly relieved to see that his friend was still breathing._

 _"Terrence? You okay? Terrence…"_

 _Perry carefully slid his hand under his friend's head. Terrence opened his eyes. He smiled at Perry._

 _"H…hey, Per."_

 _"It's gonna be okay, Terrence. I'm gonna get you help, okay? You're gonna be all right."_

 _Terrence wheezed slightly._

 _"It's not so bad, Terrence. It… it's fixable, right? You're still breathing. Just hold on."_

 _"Per…" Terrence choked._

 _Perry looked into his eyes. He could feel a lump forming in his throat._

 _"It's… okay, Per. It's… gonna be… okay…" Terrence was having a very hard time talking. "I… am gone, Per… but… you… you will… be okay."_

 _"Don't talk like that." Perry said, his voice shaking. "Stop it."_  
 _Terrence lifted a shaking wing and stroked Perry's cheek._

 _"You're… great, Per. Great… friend to me… t-thank you…"_

 _"Terrence…" Perry felt the familiar sting in his cheeks as water began to form in his eyes. "Terrence, no, please… you've got to hold on…"_

 _"Per… j-just know…"_

 _"What?"_

 _"I... you will…"_

 _The light faded from Terrence's eyes, and his wing slowly dropped down to the ground._

 _Perry stared into the lifeless eyes for a long moment._

 _"Terrence… no…"_  
 _He started to cry. He buried his head in his friend's feathers, clutched the body, but it was cold and limp, no longer able to comfort him. The warm tears kept coming, drenching his face, soaking into the feathers._

 _He cried for a long time._

 _It couldn't be happening. It just couldn't._

* * *

 _Perry shoveled the last bit of dirt and patted it down best he could._

 _He was crying even harder now. He dropped the shovel and put his bleeding hands to his face, trying to soothe them._

 _He felt even worse now that the body was buried. He really was alone now. Terrence was gone. Gone forever. All because someone thought he had no reason to live._

 _Perry knew he had to make some kind of mark for Terrence, some way to remember where he was buried. He looked around, his vision blurred with tears. There was nothing big enough to be a gravestone._

 _He finally decided to mark the tree he had buried Terrence by. It would surely be around for a long time._

 _After imprinting his message, he lay down on the ground and cried for a long time._

* * *

 _Perry banged on the door. His head burned, and his face was wet with tears. It was impossible for him to see anything. He knew where he was, but his thoughts were elsewhere._

 _The door swung open._

 _"Hey, Per- …you okay?"_

 _Perry pushed past Sven and ran into the living room. He grabbed two gasoline cans and stormed back the way he had come._

 _"Calm down, bud. Calm- put that down. Come on. Put that down. What's going on with you?" Sven asked._

 _Perry didn't hear him. The words went straight through him._

 _"Per, Per- stop it!" Sven grabbed Perry by the shoulders. "Bud, come on, what's wrong? Calm down-"_

 _Perry broke free from him and ran down the street._

* * *

 _As soon as the farm animals were safely outside, Perry started the fire._

 _It licked at the walls, ate at the wood, tore down the pens. Burning. Destroying. Everything Brown had would be gone in an instant. Gone just like Terrence. Destroyed._

 _He would know what it felt like to have nothing anymore._

 _After a few moments, Perry began to lose his strength, forgetting where he was. He coughed as the smoky air filled his lungs. He was barely aware. All he knew was that the barn was burning. Soon it would be gone. Just like Terrence._

 _The gasoline can in his hand fell to the ground. Perry fell with it. He was beginning to struggle for breath._

 _"Oh no… no, no… come on…"_

 _Sven's voice. Perry heard the words, but did not process them. He closed his eyes._

 _He could feel Sven shaking him._

 _"Come on… breathe… it's okay… everything will be okay… come on…"_

 _Perry gave a shuddering breath. It turned into a series of coughs._

 _He felt Sven drape a cold, wet towel over him, blocking the smoke. He scooped Perry up and held him._

 _"It'll be all right… don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you."_

 _Perry managed to choke out two words._

 _"He's gone."_

 _"Hush, Per. It's okay. I'll get you help."_

* * *

"Okay, someone check the Flynn-Fletcher house." Ernest said.

"I'm on it." Peter said, dashing to his hoverpod.

"Ernest-" Lowe began.

"Agent W, check the perimeters. Find Agent P if he happens to be inside the agency. Agent B, get a view from above. Agent M, patrol the outside-"

"I'll see if he's still in my neighborhood somewhere." Sven said.

"Ernest."

"WHAT, Lois?" Ernest snapped. "What could you possibly have to say?"

"I have an idea of where he might be." Lowe said.

"You know where he could be, Lois?" Ernest shouted. "Falling into lakewater, jumping off the edge of a building, diving into a chasm! I am in no mood to listen to YOU right now! You were in charge of ensuring that Agent P did not become too emotionally unstable, and what do you do? You let him CHOOSE when to see you, you don't speak to him right away if he's upset, and you don't monitor him to make sure he's safe! I would have had you FIRED if I were in charge. Look what's happened. Look what you've done."

Lowe narrowed his eyes.

"Perry is not in any danger of harming himself, Ernest. He would only do so if it were to protect someone else. Forcing him to have sessions with me would have made him feel as though he were not in control, which would cause him to mistrust me. I do know what I'm doing. And if you want to find him, I can give you a few estimates of where he might be. If not, I will go find him myself."

"Maybe he went to the bathroom." Devon said.

Everyone looked at him.

"It's a logical assumption." Devon said.

* * *

Perry woke up crying.

Everything he had just remembered… it was excruciating how painful the memories were. Terrence dying in his arms… the tree… this very tree… and the farm. Perry had burned down Danville Farm. Sven knew. Sven had kept it from him when he realized Perry didn't remember… to protect him from the memories.

Perry heard a bush rattle behind him. He abruptly stopped crying and turned around.

It was Lowe.

Lowe bent down next to him. "You all right, Perry?"

"I… I don't know." Perry sniffled. "I just… I just…"

"You remember."

"Yeah… how did you know?"

"Sven confided in me earlier when he realized you had forgotten burning down the farm." Lowe explained.

"They blamed him-"

"Don't worry about that. Neither you nor Sven is going to get in trouble. We're taking care of that."

"How did you find me?" Perry wiped his eyes with his hand.

Lowe reached into his fur pocket and handed Perry a tissue. "I've explored this area of the O.W.C.A gardens before. I figured it was yours after talking with you a while."

"Why?"

"I don't want to upset you any more. You've had a hard enough day."

"…I… I can't believe I forgot…"

"You repressed the memory. It happens when people experience trauma. Their minds try to protect them by pushing the memories back, where they can't be seen. But they remain there, and the emotions stay there. I knew you had repressed memories because some of your emotions were triggered by things that didn't seem to connect. Do you need to talk?"

Perry told Lowe everything, which caused him to cry all over again. Lowe was very good at understanding him even through all the sobbing.

"Do you feel better remembering?"

"Kind of… and kind of worse… I mean… it makes me feel better to know… to know that I was there with him… when it happened. I was the last thing he saw… so… he was happy when… when it happened. And it's nice to know he's there… buried there… in a nice place… by a tree, instead of… you know…"

"Yes. You're going to be all right, Perry. You know now why his death affected you so much. You were there when it happened. And that's a hard thing to go through. But now that you know where all of those emotions are coming from, you will be able to recover much more easily. I think all you really need now is some kind of closure. It will affect you, Perry. It always will. But it's going to be okay now."  
Perry nodded. He blew his nose.  
"I'm going to keep you with me for a couple days, okay? Just to help you stabilize a little bit. It's a lot to take in for one night."  
Perry nodded again.

Lowe helped him up. They started to walk back.

* * *

"Guess who's mostly better?" Perry asked.

"Perry!" Phineas said. "You're back! Look, Ferb and I built an invisible dollhouse for Candace."

"Ohhh." Perry pretended to look at it. "Cool."

"Um… it's over there." Phineas pointed. "What do you mean you're better?"

"Basically, I had a bunch of memories I didn't remember, like you said, one of which was the fact that I burned down Danville Farm."

"You did that?" Phineas asked. "I thought-"

"Sven did, I know. It's a long story. But anyway, I remembered a bunch of trauma I went through, sorted it out, and now I finally feel sort of normal. Empty. But there's no more random sadness nagging at me. I know what it is now. It's never going to stop hurting, but... at least I know what it is now. My shrink says some closure would probably help."

"Once a door-to-door counselor asked me if I needed closure." Ferb said. "So I closed the door in her face."

"Door-to-door counselor?" Perry asked.

"Danville's a strange town." Phineas explained. "But I'm so glad you're doing better, Perry."

"So is my cow." Ferb said.

"They stopped investigation on the arson case, obviously, and Sven is off the hook. I am as well, since I wasn't in my right mind when I did it."

"Being out of it is a good excuse." Ferb said.

"Apparently so." Perry said.

"I'm happy for you, Perry." Phineas said. "So do you want to help us show Candace her dollhouse?"

"It's the best of the best." Ferb said.

"Cream of the corn." Perry said. "Sure, why not."


	8. Chapter 8

Phineas limped into the kitchen.

Linda stopped stirring the pot of spaghetti and gave him a concerned look. "Phineas, what happened?"

"I forgot my left shoe at school." Phineas said.

"Honestly, honey, you've lost three and a half pairs of shoes this month alone. You really need to keep better track of them."

"They're not lost. I know where they are. I just forgot them. Can I go to Isabella's? I have another pair of shoes there I left last time."

"Dinner's almost ready. You can go after."

"Ok. Ferb and I are gonna take the Fer-bus there, ok?"

"Sure, honey."

"Cool." Phineas hopped out of the kitchen and into the living room, where Ferb was sitting on the couch with a book. "Mom says we can take the Fer-bus."

"So does my cow."

"What book is that?"

"My Cow: A Novel."

Phineas laughed. "Seriously, Ferb."

"It's a book I found in the back of the closet. It's rather odd. This man is trying to bring down a business so he can help his business prosper."

"So he can be Cream of the Corn."

"Yes."

"Why was that book in our closet?"  
Ferb shrugged. "It was in the back with a bunch of other old books. I don't reckon they ever belonged to us."

"What is it, anyways?" Phineas asked.

Ferb turned the book over and looked at the cover. "It's called The Fall of the Fallen by Kneada Knap."  
"The Fall of the Fallen." Perry said, padding into the room. "I bet THAT took a long time to think up. 'Hey, Sam, what should we call this book?' 'Gee, I dunno, Betty. Maybe the Fall of the King? No, too general…' 'By golly, Sam, I've got it! THE FALL OF THE FALLEN!' 'By Jove, Betty! That's just hecky-darn perfect! Today the book, tomorrow the sequel, THE RISE OF THE RISEN! Not to be confused with Rise over Run.'"

Phineas laughed. "Hecky-darn."

Perry hopped up on the couch next to Ferb. "Gotta give my beaver friends Bobby Jane and Johnny Sue credit for that one. What's up with this Fall of the Fallen stuff?"

Ferb handed the book to Perry.

Perry stared at the cover. "Holy your cow. It's a Knap book. I had to read one of her novels before I joined the O.W.C.A. I slept with the light on."

"Oh, so she's famous?" Phineas asked.

"More like infamous. She was a former member of what is now L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N, back before Doofenshmirtz had even registered as a villain. Some former girlfriend of Colonel Conundrum or something, I don't know. Turned to the dark side and then wrote tons of books while she was in jail. She got released and no one ever heard from her again. This is one of her weird works. They say not to judge a book by its cover, but the title alone's enough to make me want to un-digest breakfast."

"Huh." Phineas shrugged. "Good thing Perry told us it was a horror novel before you got too far into it."

"Shall we shred it, then?" Ferb said.

"I'll get rid of it for you." Perry climbed down from the couch. "Careful what you read, boys. I don't want you freaking yourselves out. You already watch enough creepy horror movies."

"Why did she write books when she was in jail?" Phineas asked.

Perry shrugged. "Who knows."  
"You up for Pika Kingdom later?" Ferb asked Phineas.

Perry stared at him. "…Really, Ferb? Really? Okay, fine by me if you wanna sleep in the kitchen with the blinds drawn and the lights on."

* * *

Perry woke up to the smell of food.

He padded downstairs into the kitchen. Linda was stirring pie filling. Cornbread was already cooking in the oven.

"Hello, Perry." Linda broke off a piece of a roll and held it out to him. "Happy Thanksgiving."

Perry ate it and waddled over to the front door.

All the food smelled delicious. But he just wasn't fond of the holiday anymore. He had been so negatively impacted by it for years that he had forgotten how to enjoy it.

Perhaps it was time for a different tradition.

* * *

Perry flopped down next to Prince on the bed and kissed her cheek. "Hey. You awake?"

"I am now." Prince stretched and put her arms around him. "What's up?"

"I was thinking I'd make dinner."

"And you came all the way over here super-early in the morning to tell me that? What's the occasion?"

"Well… it's Thanksgiving."

"Yeah. A time for celebrating with family members. Needless to say, I never got into it. Aren't you gonna spend it with your other family?"

"Truth is… I've spent it with them almost my whole life… but after everything that happened a few years ago… I just… I can't do it anymore. I need a new setting. Different people around me… just so I'm not reminded of the bad times."

"Well, I have no objections to you staying here for the day." Prince kissed him.

"Good. I was thinking I'd make some of those rolly-things… and pie. Pie makes the world go round. And some vegetables, and cranberry sauce, and cornbread- I can't stand cornbread, but it smells good. And I'll use lots of spice for it. You like spiced cornbread, right? And I was also thinking I'd make egg noodles because, you know, they're basically the ambrosia of the mortal world. And you could make that pasta sauce I love so much…"

"Nice. You do that. I'm gonna sleep in a little more and then I'll help you."

Perry stood up. "Are the pups awake?"

"Yeah, they're watching Luke and Nommy. Hope it doesn't melt their brains."

"I'll be downstairs cooking if you need me. Thanks, Prince. Love you."

* * *

"Sneakers, get out of the broccoli." Pandora picked Sneakers up and moved her onto the floor. "Are you ever gonna grow up?"

"Can I help cook the egg noodles?" Pascal asked.

"Sure." Perry handed Pascal the wooden spoon and set up a stool for him. "Just stir that. When the timer goes off, we can drain it. Pandy, can you find some way to entertain Sneakers so she doesn't get in the middle of everything? See if you can find her jingle ball."

Pandora dug around in the toybox and tossed the jingle ball into the hall. "Fetch. Without coming back."

Sneakers gave a happy squeal and floated down the hall.

"Pandy's turning out a lot like Prince." Perry said quietly.

"Grumpity grump." Pascal agreed. "Where are the cranberries?"

"Here." Perry showed him the package of frozen cranberries.

Pascal frowned. "These aren't cranberries. They're hard."

He tapped the package against the counter. It made a loud _CLUNK_ sound.

Perry laughed. "Of course they are. They're frozen. I gotta heat them up first."

"Oh, okay." Pascal continued to stir the egg noodles.

Perry got a pot out of the cabinet and set it down on the stove. He filled it with water and poured in the cranberries.

The pasta timer beeped. Pascal climbed down from his stool and spooned a little bit of water into the wooden spoon. He walked over to the sink and dumped it out. Then he returned to the pot and got another spoonful of water.

"Um… Cal? You wanna drain that in a colander?" Perry asked.

"It's too heavy to lift." Pascal said.

"You want help?" Perry said.

Pascal laughed. "Yeah."

Perry grabbed a colander and placed it inside the sink. He emptied the pot into it.

"Lot easier, right?"

"Yep." Pascal said.

* * *

"Okay, the pumpkin pie mixed with the cranberry sauce smells awesome." Perry said. "No excuses. If you don't like the smell, go blow your nose a few times because it's obviously stopped up."

"I'm eating six of everything." Pascal said.

Pandora took the broccoli from his plate.

"No." Pascal narrowed his eyes. "Give that back or I'll tell daddy."

"Bite me."

Pascal did. Pandora gave him his broccoli back.

"Thanks." Prince kissed Perry on the cheek. "It's really nice having you here. And this is delicious."

"Hey, you're the one who made the sauce."

"Everything tastes great."

Perry grinned. "Thanks. I'm really glad to be here, too."

Sneakers floated to the middle of the table and descended into the bread basket. She began to eat the rolls inside.

Perry took a bite of his egg noodles and allowed the pleasant flavor to explode onto his tongue.

He was happy. Happier than he had been in years.

It was his favorite Thanksgiving.


	9. Chapter 9

By the time Perry returned home, the backyard was filled with tons of people he had never seen before.

Slightly confused, Perry opened the gate and got down on all fours. He made his way to the tree, where Phineas and Ferb were standing.

"There you are, boy!" Phineas said. "We were waiting for you before we started."

"Started what?"

"Don't you remember? We promised you."

Ferb handed Phineas a microphone, and Phineas began to speak.

"Fellow people of Danville, we are gathered here today to watch the best fireworks show ever! This firework took Ferb and I months to build." He pointed over at an extremely large firework sitting in the corner of the backyard. "Today, we will set it off to honor the friend of a very wonderful and very good friend of ours. So… you guys might wanna stand back."  
Ferb lit a match and held the end against the chubby fuse. He quickly ran back to stand next to Phineas.

Smoke billowed out from underneath the firework. It blasted into the air.

And the sky lit up.

Thousands upon thousands of glittering, firey stars exploded in the air and shimmered back down like golden rain. The sky changed from black to pale grey with every bang.

Perry watched the fireworks in awe. The booming vibration in his chest felt wonderful. Any remaining sadness he had was being blasted away.

The fireworks boomed on and on for a long time, growing larger in number and more variant in color, until finally…

A long, sharp whistle, and the entire sky became blinding white. The backyard lit up as though it were daytime.

 _BOOM._

The ground shook with the force of the final firework. An image of a turkey appeared in the sky, created entirely out of every shade of every color. It shimmered into smaller sparkles, and everything became dark and silent again.

After a long moment, everyone cheered.

Perry had tears of happiness in his eyes. The boys had done this for him. They had worked so hard to create this for him. To honor Terrence's memory in the most wonderful way possible, so that everyone could see how much he meant to the world.

They had done this all for him. To give him closure.

They had always been his closure. They had always been there for him. Always optimistic, always loving. They cheered him up when he was upset, they were by his side when he needed them, they always wanted to be there for him.

Perry ran over to Phineas and jumped into his arms. Ferb patted him on the head.

"Thank you." Perry said quietly.

"You're welcome. It was fun to make!"

"Not just for this. For everything. Thank you so much for everything."

Phineas looked a little embarrassed.

"I'm serious. You guys are amazing, and I don't think I ever told you that."

"Well, of course we are amazing." Ferb said. "We are the best of the best."

"The cream of the corn." Phineas said.

They started to laugh.

"But seriously." Perry said. "I really appreciate you guys."

"We appreciate you too, Perry." Phineas said.

"Always have, always will." Ferb said.


End file.
